A NASA program of five robotic spacecraft launched in 1966 and 1967 to photograph the Moon from orbit in support of Apollo landing-site selection. All five missions succeeded, together mapping 99 percent of the lunar surface and returning the first photographs taken from lunar orbit, including early images of Earth as seen from the Moon.
Facts
Mission TypeRobotic lunar mapping program 1 Launch DateDate of Lunar Orbiter 1, the program's first mission. End DateDate of Lunar Orbiter 5, the program's final mission. OutcomeSuccessful; all five missions completed their objectives, and the spacecraft were deliberately crashed into the Moon afterward to avoid interfering with later missions' radio tracking. 1 Mission Type
Mission Type (category)Robotic / Uncrewed Mission 1 Connections
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Source Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
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1. Wikipedia (space and spaceflight articles)
Wikimedia FoundationWikipedia: Lunar Orbiter program, lead section
The Lunar Orbiter program was a series of five uncrewed Moon-orbiting missions launched by the United States in 1966 and 1967.
- Wikipedia: Lunar Orbiter program, mission list
View the Source Moon (Wikipedia)
Targets: The Moon, Article textQuote, Targets: The Moon, Article text
Kennedy's 1961 commitment to a crewed Moon landing before the end of the decade, the United States, under NASA leadership, launched a series of uncrewed probes to develop an understanding of the lunar surface in preparation for human missions: the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Ranger program, the Lunar Orbiter program and the Surveyor program.
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